We did not question any TV actor, say police

In A new twist to the alleged ?SMS to WIN? scandal, which reportedly came to light during the investigation into a complaint of vulgar messages being sent to a woman on her mobile phone, the Thane police crime branch on Thursday claimed that they had not questioned any reality show actor or his wife.

In A new twist to the alleged ‘SMS to WIN’ scandal, which reportedly came to light during the investigation into a complaint of vulgar messages being sent to a woman on her mobile phone, the Thane police crime branch on Thursday claimed that they had not questioned any reality show actor or his wife.

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A senior crime branch official denied reports that any actor/s by the name of Manav or Shweta were questioned for purchasing 200 mobile SIM cards to vote for them.

The Cyber Crime Cell of the Thane police crime branch had arrested the sender of the dirty messages on October 20 to who turned out to be the complainant’s husband.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sanjay Shintre of the Thane crime branch said the investigation into the lewd message case had nothing to do with the purchase of 200 SIM cards. “When the culprit turned out to be the complainant’s husband, she with drew the complaint,” said the DCP, adding, “No third person was questioned.” He said that though reports suggested that the buyer of the 200 SIM cards was a contestant of a reality show, the police did not initiate a probe as it had nothing to do with the complaint.

When asked if the purchase of 200 SIM cards could be an offence, Shintre said, “It can be an offence only if they were purchased under bogus names by furnishing bogus documents or misusing them.” Meanwhile, actor Manav Gohil and his wife Shweta remained incommunicado throughout the day following reports that the they had tried to rig votes in a reality show by distributing SIM cards among their acquaintances. Though several messages were left on their answering machines, they did not respond. The watchman at their residence said they were not at home.

However, their choreographer in the reality show, Yogesh Patkar, who had reportedly distributed the SIM cards, said, “I don’t know anything about the SIM cards. I woke up late in the afternoon and heard about it only then,” he said. He denied that he was summoned by the police for questioning.

htmetro@ hindustantimes.com